Outside his office, 7-foot-1 center Cheikh Samb was making one long jumper after another. He had strung together at least seven in a row before Dumars gathered his thoughts and spoke of a conversation he had with Rasheed Wallace about Samb.

"We got a running joke with him (Samb) and Rasheed that when camp starts, who is the best shooter," Dumars said. "Rasheed already told me, he said 'Joe, I know I got something on my hands with Cheikh.'"

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Con:
Samb missed 3 shots in a row after going through Curry's extreme conditioning boot camp before the game.

Outside his office, 7-foot-1 center Cheikh Samb was making one long jumper after another. He had strung together at least seven in a row before Dumars gathered his thoughts and spoke of a conversation he had with Rasheed Wallace about Samb.

"We got a running joke with him (Samb) and Rasheed that when camp starts, who is the best shooter," Dumars said. "Rasheed already told me, he said 'Joe, I know I got something on my hands with Cheikh.'"

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Con:

It is too reminiscent of this:

It isn't until Milicic picks up a basketball and starts effortlessly
draining NBA-range 3-pointers (remember, his coach in Yugoslavia
wouldn't let him take European 3s, let alone from the NBA distance)
that Robinson begins speaking up. He doesn't stop talking until well
after the workout."We hit the jackpot," Robinson says with a smile. "Jackpot!"
Milicic moves into the post and begins hitting jump hooks, first
with his left hand. Then with his right. Robinson can't tell whether
Milicic is left- or right-handed. That's a good thing."How'd that boy learn to shoot with both hands?" he asks."That's just unfair. Very few players can do that."
At one point, a clearly exhausted Milicic bends over and, for a
moment, looks like he can't go on. He sips a glass of water, slaps
his hands together and gets back on the court."Did you see the way he just gutted that out?" Robinson says. "That's the type of kid you want to coach. If I was coaching him,
we'd go to the moon."
Soon Darko is running the floor, handling the ball on the break and
finishing with thundering dunks."He's going to own the game. Own the game," Robinsons exclaims. "We're going to have to build a new arena. The only thing that could
destroy a kid like that is a woman."
Another big dunk, and Robinson gets up from his chair and begins
walking toward Dumars."I've seen all I need," he says."Take him!!!" he screams at Dumars.

It isn't until Milicic picks up a basketball and starts effortlessly
draining NBA-range 3-pointers (remember, his coach in Yugoslavia
wouldn't let him take European 3s, let alone from the NBA distance)
that Robinson begins speaking up. He doesn't stop talking until well
after the workout.
"We hit the jackpot," Robinson says with a smile. "Jackpot!"
Milicic moves into the post and begins hitting jump hooks, first
with his left hand. Then with his right. Robinson can't tell whether
Milicic is left- or right-handed. That's a good thing.
"How'd that boy learn to shoot with both hands?" he asks.
"That's just unfair. Very few players can do that."
At one point, a clearly exhausted Milicic bends over and, for a
moment, looks like he can't go on. He sips a glass of water, slaps
his hands together and gets back on the court.
"Did you see the way he just gutted that out?" Robinson says.
"That's the type of kid you want to coach. If I was coaching him,
we'd go to the moon."
Soon Darko is running the floor, handling the ball on the break and
finishing with thundering dunks.
"He's going to own the game. Own the game," Robinsons exclaims.
"We're going to have to build a new arena. The only thing that could
destroy a kid like that is a woman."
Another big dunk, and Robinson gets up from his chair and begins
walking toward Dumars.
"I've seen all I need," he says.
"Take him," he screams at Dumars.

Man, the guy is 7'1", started playing bball late in life, and supposedly has the ability to hit jumpers in practice. He was drafted late, we got him in a trade, and he was shipped off the D-league. This year he's not expected to get any real playing time.

Blocking shots and possibly hitting some J's is all this guy has. I don't blame him at all for trying to show his differentiating ability when he gets into a game. The guy that the kool-aide article mentioned as his outside shooting rival (Sheed) went 0-7, so who got overhyped?

If Joe is pumping out the kool-aide, it must either be genuine or an effort to increase a player's trade value.

As a GM, you wouldn't want to hype a player that won't play. That would just frustrate the fans and ultimately hurt your brand. You'd get situations where the crowd would be chanting his name and the coach wouldn't put him in the game. That would be rather embarrassing.

As a GM, you wouldn't want to hype a player that won't play. That would just frustrate the fans and ultimately hurt your brand. You'd get situations where the crowd would be chanting his name and the coach wouldn't put him in the game. That would be rather embarrassing.

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Oh comon' You're killing me here.

Joe's been hyping players that don't play for years.

Forums have had no problem jumping from one great guy with supposed talent to another without skipping a beat.

It's when they finally play in the NBA that things start to unravel. Sometimes even that doesn't deter the throng as long as the player can get a good three in from way downtown, ala Blalock.

“A tremendous shot blocker. He’s 7-1, very athletic around the basket, runs the floor really well and has, really, a soft touch with the ball for a 7-1 guy. I like his length, athleticism and his ability to protect the paint. He’s a tremendous shot blocker and I think you guys will see him in the summer league. Although he’s going to go back to Barcelona, right now the plans are for him to fly here next week and play in the summer league with us.”

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The compliments Joe gives Samb are the exact reasons that he traded for him. He likes his upside and thinks that Samb can be a great shot blocker and an above average shooter for a 7'+ player.

Some refreshing quotes; now let's see if they can fix the problems . . .

"I couldn't throw a rock in the ocean," Wallace said. "But we'll get it right. We can pretty much get any shot we want. We're confident with our offense and the new sets Mike (Curry) is running. We settled for too many jump shots tonight, me included. We have to do a better job of working the ball inside."

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"Our offense is good," said Tayshaun Prince, who had seven points. "Our action is good. But with Chauncey (Billups) out, we had a tendency to do too much one-on-one stuff and not run our sets. We did what we've always had a tendency to do -- when we got down we tried to get it all back by ourselves."